Upon review of the full list of dates, there are plenty of observations about the 2013 fixture list that pop out to me. The Timbers will again get plenty of dates on national television, as they will be featured for 13 different matches being shown on the various MLS broadcast partners – ESPN/ESPN2, NBC Sports Network, and UniMas (formerly known as Telefutura). Of those 13 dates, nine of those will be at JELD-WEN Field, so suffice to say, the Timbers will be on plenty of televisions worldwide quite often. At this point, these are the only known broadcasts, although the release indicated that Portland will make additional announcements about local broadcasts and radio coverage at a later date.

The majority of matches will be occurring on the weekends, but there are more weekday matches than in previous seasons which remind me a bit of the old USL days, although the Timbers don't have the two matches in three day scheduling that often occurred in those days. After starting with home matches against New York and Montreal, the Timbers play their first Cascadia Cup match in defense of the trophy in Seattle on March 16. There's also a rather daunting slew of road stops at the end of May and start of June – at Vancouver, at D.C. United, at Chicago – that could present some challenges which is followed by hosting FC Dallas, a midweek match against the Los Angeles Galaxy and then back home to host Colorado.

The Timbers don't make a trip to the Eastern Time zone after July 20, but they do have a September date with Toronto FC visiting JELD-WEN Field. Portland also has eight home dates of their last 13 matches after a July 27 trip to San Jose, and considering their strong record in the RoseCity, this could aid any attempts at the playoffs. I also noticed more home afternoon kickoff times, with most evening kickoff times slated for either 7:30 PM or 8 PM. There are a few kickoff times that have yet to be determined – the first road date in Seattle (March 16), the first road date in Vancouver (May 16) and the second road date in Vancouver (October 6).

Based upon the parameters previously announced in November 2011 to create an unbalanced schedule weighted on more dates within a conference, the schedule balances the concerns of travel costs and affects on players versus trying to ensure that there are viable fixtures for television. Granted, my preference has always been for the Timbers to play a balanced schedule with home and home dates against everyone, but with various competitions occurring through the spring and summer (U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League) and teams wanting to schedule entertaining exhibition matches, I think the league has struck a good balance amongst all the issues. It's a complicated process to schedule 34 matches for 19 clubs and keep everyone happy.

With the unbalanced schedule, the Timbers will welcome Los Angeles, RealSaltLake, FC Dallas and Colorado twice at JWF, while they will travel twice to Seattle, Vancouver, San Jose and Chivas USA. With Western Conference teams only playing their Eastern Conference counterparts once, Timbers fans won't see Chicago, Columbus, D.C. United, Sporting Kansas City or Philadelphia make a trip to the RoseCity as part of the MLS schedule. All information is current as of January 9, 2012 and is subject to change. In 2011 and 2012, the Timbers have moved selected dates and kickoff times for television or other considerations. The kickoff time for each date is listed as Portland/Pacific time:

2013 Portland Timbers Schedule (home matches in bold, CAPS)

Date

Opponent

Kickoff (PT)

Television

Sunday, March 3

NEW YORK RED BULLS

4:30 p.m.

ESPN2

Saturday, March
9

MONTREAL IMPACT

7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 16

@Seattle Sounders FC

TBD

NBC Sports Network

Saturday, March 30

@Colorado Rapids

3 p.m.

Saturday, April
6

HOUSTON DYNAMO

7:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 14

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

7:30 p.m.

NBC Sports
Network

Sunday, April 21

@San Jose Earthquakes

8 p.m.

UniMás

Saturday, April 27

@Sporting Kansas City

5:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 2

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 8

@FC Dallas

6 p.m.

Sunday, May 12

CHIVAS USA

3 p.m.

UniMás

Saturday, May 18

@Vancouver Whitecaps FC

TBD

Saturday, May 25

@D.C. United

4 p.m.

Saturday, June 8

@Chicago Fire

5:30 p.m.

Saturday, June
15

FC DALLAS

2 p.m.

ESPN

Wednesday, June 19

@LA Galaxy

7:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 23

COLORADO RAPIDS

4 p.m.

NBC Sports
Network

Sunday, July 7

@Columbus Crew

2 p.m.

Saturday, July
13

LA GALAXY

8 p.m.

NBC Sports
Network

Saturday, July 20

@Philadelphia Union

4:30 p.m.

Saturday, July 27

@San Jose Earthquakes

7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 3

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug.
17

FC DALLAS

8 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug.
21

REALSALTLAKE

8 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 25

@Seattle Sounders FC

7 p.m.

ESPN2

Friday, Aug. 30

@RealSaltLake

7 p.m.

NBC Sports Network

Saturday, Sept.
7

TORONTO FC

8 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 14

@Chivas
USA

7:30 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 20

COLORADO RAPIDS

7 p.m.

NBC Sports
Network

Sunday, Sept. 29

LA GALAXY

12:30 p.m.

NBC

Sunday, Oct. 6

@Vancouver Whitecaps FC

TBD

Sunday, Oct. 13

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

6 p.m.

ESPN

Saturday, Oct.
19

REALSALTLAKE

7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 26

@Chivas
USA

7:30 p.m.

Schedule Breakdown:

Home Dates by Day of the Week: Wednesday (1), Thursday (1), Friday (1), Saturday (8), Sunday (6)Road Dates by Day of the Week: Wednesday (2), Friday (1), Saturday (10), Sunday (4)Home Dates by Month: March (2), April (2), May (2), June (2), July (1), August (3), September (3), October (2)Road Dates by Month: March (2), April (2), May (3), June (2), July (3), August (2), September (1), October (2)